Natural Allergy Relief Infusion
I’ve been getting many messages asking about natural remedies for allergy relief. Enter herbal infusions!
Stinging nettle (leaf) can help ease seasonal allergies like itchiness, runny nose/eyes, sneezing, etc. but adding onion peels – the secret ingredient to my secret ingredient soup – takes it to the next level.
Why? Because onion peels are rich in quercetin (pronounced kwehr-suh-tin) which is a natural anti-histamine that calms the immune system to reduce or prevent histamine release.
And stinging nettle leaf (very important: leaf, not root) has shown to have “anti-histamine” action because it makes histamine receptors less sensitive. Because of this mode of action, pairing stinging nettle with an antihistamine like quercetin can be a powerful combination for allergy sufferers.
Making an infusion is simple. It’s like making tea, but with more herbs and a longer simmer time so it’s more potent and therapeutic.
- Simply fill a glass jar with washed, organic onion peels (I used 1 large onion for my small jar but you can use 2-4 onions for larger jars) and dried stinging nettle leaf (about 1/3 way up the jar).
- Add boiling water and let it simmer for 8 to 24 hours (4 hours works too but it won’t be as potent).
- Strain and enjoy hot or cold! Add honey if you wish to break the slight bitterness.
A few notes:
You can soak your onion peels in water and vinegar for ~5 minutes for a more thorough wash, then rinse
I source my organic bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. Frontier Coop and Starwest Botanicals are other good options available on iHerb or Amazon
Hope this was helpful and please share with friends who need this.
Comments/questions?????????
How do you incorporate onion peels in with the stinging nettle? Do I make a stinging nettle tea and peel off a piece of an onion and steep as well?
Hi Ivona – as shown in the video tutorial above, you add the onion peel at the same time as the stinging nettle, directly into the same jar. Then pour in the boiling water and let it all steep together overnight.
For smaller jars like the one in the video, I used the peel from one onion. For larger jars, you can use the peels from four to five onions. If you’re planning to make this regularly, it helps to save your onion peels while cooking by storing them in a bag in the freezer.